The object of the present invention is to provide a cooling apparatus which makes it possible to cool a substrate uniformly in a short period of time even if the substrate has a large area. The cooling apparatus 3 comprises a flat-box-shaped body 10, a cooling medium supply tube 11 which is inserted into the body 10, a nozzle 12 which is attached to the cooling medium supply tube 11 so as to eject the cooling medium toward the internal surface of the body, a pipe 13 for withdrawing water (refrigerant) ejected from the nozzle 12 toward the body 10, a chiller 14 for cooling the water from the pipe 13 to a predetermined temperature, and a circulating pipe 15 for sending the water which has been cooled by the chiller 14 back to the cooling medium supply tube 11.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A cooling apparatus for cooling a substrate comprising: a flat-box-shaped body; a cooling medium supply tube which is inserted into the body; a first nozzle which is attached to the cooling medium supply tube so as to eject the cooling medium toward an internal surface of the body, and a second nozzle attached to another cooling medium supply tube near one side of the body so as to eject the cooling medium toward the internal surface of the body; wherein the internal surface is a back side of a top planar surface of the body, wherein the top planar surface of the body is adapted to support a substrate thereon such that the substrate can be cooled by the cooling apparatus; wherein the first nozzle is inclined with respect to the internal surface of the body, and said second nozzle is inclined in an opposite direction of the first mentioned nozzle.
2. A substrate treating apparatus comprising: an exposure apparatus which is provided in a substrate transfer line; and the cooling apparatus according to claim 1 which is positioned in front of the exposure apparatus in the course of the substrate transfer line.
3. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the internal surface is a back side of a thin metal plate, and an upper side of the thin metal plate forms the top planar surface of the body.
4. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the thin metal plate has a thickness of approximately 0.5-1.0 mm.
5. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein a space within the body is substantially open such that, apart from the cooling medium supply tubes and the nozzles, the cooling medium ejected from the nozzles can freely flow toward the internal surface of the body.
6. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the first nozzle is inclined obliquely downward with respect to the internal surface of the body.
7. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the apparatus comprises multiple said first nozzles provided on multiple said cooling medium supply tubes disposed in spaced relation to each other so as to eject the cooling medium toward the internal surface of the body, wherein said first nozzles are inclined in one direction toward said internal surface of the body.
8. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising a circulating pipe for introducing the cooling medium into said supply tubes, a pipe for withdrawing the cooling medium from the body after it is discharged from said nozzles, and a chiller which cools the cooling medium before it is reintroduced into the circulating pipe.
9. The substrate treating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein a strength-enhancing rib is provided on the internal surface of the body.
10. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the internal surface is a back side of a thin metal plate, and an upper side of the thin metal plate forms the top planar surface of the body.
11. The cooling apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the thin metal plate has a thickness of approximately 0.5-1.0 mm.
12. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a space within the body is substantially open such that, apart from the cooling medium supply tube and the nozzles, the cooling medium ejected from the nozzles can freely flow toward the internal surface of the body.
13. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the first nozzle is inclined obliquely downward with respect to the internal surface of the body.
14. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the apparatus comprises multiple said first nozzles provided on multiple said cooling medium supply tubes disposed in spaced relation to each other so as to eject the cooling medium toward the internal surface of the body, wherein said first nozzles are all inclined in one direction toward said internal surface of the body such that the cooling medium discharges from the first nozzles substantially do not collide with each other within the body and are distributed substantially uniformly over the internal surface.
15. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an ejection angle of coolant medium from said nozzles expands radially within said body.
16. The cooling apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a strength-enhancing rib is provided on the internal surface of the body.
17. A cooling apparatus for cooling a substrate comprising: a flat-box-shaped body; multiple cooling medium supply tubes inserted in said body in spaced relation to each other; and multiple nozzles provided on said medium supply tubes so as to eject the cooling medium toward an internal surface of the body, wherein the internal surface is a back side of a top planar surface of the body, wherein the top planar surface of the body is adapted to support a substrate thereon such that the substrate can be cooled by the cooling apparatus, and wherein most of said nozzles are inclined in one direction toward said internal surface of the body, except for one or more nozzles provided on one of said tubes disposed near one side of said body which are inclined in an opposite direction toward the internal surface.
18. The cooling apparatus according to claim 17 , further comprising a circulating pipe for introducing the cooling medium into said supply tubes, a pipe for withdrawing the cooling medium from the body after it is discharged from said nozzles, and a chiller which cools the cooling medium before it is reintroduced into the circulating pipe.
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June 5, 2008
May 29, 2012
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